Beth carefully sat in the bar after she had finished the unhealthy excuse for breakfast, which she lived on almost exclusively, hunters weren’t know for having the best diet, why bother when she could be dead tomorrow. Her eyes darted around the room in an unobtrusive way as she watched the only other two patrons in the bar. Quickly and efficiently Beth braided up her golden hair, this time into a single braid the tip of which fell down to the small of her back. It was still early and the heat of the day had not yet taken its full effect. Scraping her chair back from the table with a noisy squeal Beth sprang gracefully to her feet, throwing some money down on the table for the meal and sauntering outside she tipped her old brown hat onto her head.

She needed to do a perimeter check, look for signs around the town and this sort of work was best done while the heat did not burn like hell fire. Walking out from the bar Beth glanced left and right looking around for some sign of Sable but with a knowing smile she couldn’t suppress she already knew she would find no trace of him. When he wanted to Sable could move without leaving hoof prints, a skill she found amazingly useful and one he had learned on his own. Beth wasn’t worried, giving a small but shrill whistle Beth began walking right towards the edge of the town. She had only gone a couple of meters away when she felt the familiar warm gusty breath on the back of her neck, bringing with it the sweet scent of hay and dusty hide. Reaching out a hand backwards Beth felt his soft velvet nose and smiled. In a fluid motion she paused as Sable continued to walk passed and she swung herself up into the saddle. Reunited once again Beth rubbed her hand against his warm neck and smiled down at him.

“How comes you always managed to get filthy when you go off on your own.” Beth teased looking at her hand which was coated in russet dust. He whickered back at her and flicked her ankles with his tail, Beth laughed as together they trotted out of the town. Over the next half an hour the two of them circled around the town a couple of miles out and out of sight of the town itself. Beth didn’t see anything out of the ordinary and Sable picked up on nothing disturbing, animal senses were relatively superior at picking up the supernatural than humans were.

Together they eventually wound up atop on the large red outcrops of rock that surrounded the area; from here Beth could see for miles on end. Overhead, even higher than them, an eagle screamed its cry as it rode the thermal winds, hovering like they were, surveying the world. Looking out into the distance Beth noticed the ominous purple blooming like a bruise on the horizon and slowly, tortuously they rolled towards the unsuspecting town. Beth felt the shudder go through her; this was an omen, a bad one. How were they supposed to face this oncoming storm? It was then that she caught the scent and her head whipped round to stare over her shoulder. She would know these scents anywhere, blood and sulphur. Below her Sable stiffened as he too picked up the smell, for a moment all was silent and still, Beth’s eyes raked the surrounding area trying to find the source, the only thing that moved were the small tendrils of golden hair caught in the wind.